by Seng Wai Yee

One important question we ask ourselves is, do we get enough nutrients from diet alone? The answer is likely not. Even with a perfect diet, the combination of many things – including our depleted soils, the storage and transportation of our food, and from a toxic environment – make it impossible for us to get all the vitamins and minerals we need solely from the foods we eat.

The 2010 National Health Survey in Singapore found that 40 per cent of Singaporeans were deficient in Vitamin D, while another 8 per cent were very deficient, even though Singapore is a sunny island.

Another example – the ODA (Optimal daily allowance) for Vitamin E is 400 IU (International Units) and the daily minimum is 30 IU – just enough to stave off deficiency-related illness. Sunflower seeds have more vitamin E than any other food. To get 400 IU of the nutrient, you’d have to eat 680g of seeds every day. Even the most ardent sunflower seed fan would find this a bit hard to swallow.

Here’s two reasons why we need diet supplementation:

1. HIGHER nutrient requirement with today’s stressful lifestyle

2. LOWER nutrient values in today’s food.

We need both macro nutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat) and micro nutrients (vitamins, minerals and antioxidants).

Today, we have plenty of macro nutrients but lacking in micro nutrients. For example, a plate of chicken rice has plenty of macro nutrients but no vegetables thus lacking in micro nutrients). As a result we are overfed and undernourished.

“… Insufficient vitamin intake is apparently a cause of chronic diseases. Recent evidence has shown that suboptimal levels of vitamins, even well above those causing deficiency syndromes, are risk factors for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. Most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone. Pending strong evidence of effectiveness from randomized trials, it appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements.” – Dr Robert H Fletcher MD. MSc, in “Vitamins for chronic disease prevention in adults: clinical applications”. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12069676/

Supplementation not only protects against deficiency but also bridges the gap between average nutrition (which culminates in premature death) and optimum nutrition (which extends life span by decades). The extra nutrients that supplements provide prevent free radicals from harming healthy cells, speed the repair and regeneration of damaged cells, and facilitate renewal. This means a longer, healthier, more vital life.

Supplements are intended to enhance the nutrient density of your diet. Nutrient density, means the ratio of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients) to macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat). The higher this ratio, the healthier your diet. The combination of a nutrient-dense diet and supplements results in thriving cells and that mean your body thrives – and that translates into extra decades of optimum health.

Let’s look at it this way:

For the price of a basic multivitamin, I protect myself against heart disease, cancer, and all the other health problems associated with chronic low-grade nutrient deficiencies. In the process, I supercharge my body’s cell renewal and put the brakes on aging.

Personally, I can’t think of any investment that pays higher dividends than that.